Wallboard joints conventionally are finished by applying drywall compound to the joint, positioning a drywall tape over the compound and the joint, coating the taped joint with additional drywall compound, and smoothing the compound into a smooth joint which can be painted to obviate any trace of the joint. The inventor of this application has other United States patents on different forms of drywall tape, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,418,027 and 5,037,686.
These tapes are placed on the exterior surfaces of the drywall sections where two sections join to assist in providing a smooth joint surface after the drywall compound is applied, sanded and painted over. The present connector is designed to be positioned beneath the drywall board and affixed both to the drywall and to the support stud or rafter to prevent movement of the wallboard and cracking of the outside taped joint if the support stud or rafter warps or shrinks in size.
In structures having pitched roofs, the roof rafters have one end fastened at a ridge joint and are inclined downwardly so the opposite end butts against a room wall. Drywall is attached directly to the rafters to form a pitched ceiling. Much lumber is not aged adequately or even can be left uncovered on a job site so that it has more moisture than is desirable. When the lumber is installed in a moisture laden condition, it tends to shrink and warp when it dries out. In the case of a pitched ceiling, the wallboard ceiling joints can be pulled apart when the rafters shrink and the contractor is then required to return to a job and repair the wallboard ceiling joints, often after a room is occupied. This is very expensive to the contactor, both in time and money and in loss of reputation for building a quality house. Since many houses using this type construction are custom built and very expensive, this is important to the contractor.
Other places in a home construction where this connector is useful are bay windows and corner joints where the tops of the walls meet the ceiling and which have a tendency to open up if the roof structure shrinks and pulls away from the wall structure. This connector of this invention also can be used on trusses and scissors trusses to combat what is termed truss uplift.
In one embodiment of the invention, the connector includes two metallic wings connected by a flexible polymeric hinge member. The hinge member is glued to the metallic wings and can be folded flat for shipment and storage. The connector can be folded into a V-shape which allows the installer to hold the connector with one hand and attach it to the roof rafters using a screw gun in his other hand. The connector has sufficient rigidity that it stays relatively straight during installation without collapsing or bending substantially.
Since the plastic hinge covers the joint between the two metal wings, it keeps the outside air from the interior of the room. This is important during installation in cold weather months, because the drywall mud applied to the interior drywall joint does not cure properly under cold or freezing conditions.
In another form of the invention, the connector is stamped from a single piece of metal and has a line of linear perforations separating two wings. The connector can be bent along the line of perforations to form any desired angle. Other improvements and advantages include a series of corrugations on the wings including the tabs to allow the tabs to elongate and bend if the installer should not position the screw exactly on center in the tab opening. The corrugations strengthen the wings and help the installer position the screws used to fasten the connector to the wallboard members during installation.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it can be used to form a straight joint for the drywall even with uneven or inconsistent framing because the tabs by which the wings are affixed to the rafters can be bent to straighten the so that the joint where the drywall ends meet is straight.
These and other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.